How to form musical chords

Chords are groups of notes that will generally sound at the same time. But what are those notes? How many notes do we need? What combinations can we make? Each chord, in its most basic form, is constructed by ascending thirds following the order of the musical scale from which they come or to which they relate. Depending on the distances between those chosen notes, the musical intervals, we will be faced with one type of chord or another. Both music theory and our ears recognize these differences. We can hear, in short, major, minor, diminished or augmented chords.

C Major Triad on piano

Triad chords

That is, if we choose any note, which will be the root note of the chord, and, following its ascending scale, we add the third and fifth to that first note, then we will have what we call a triad chord. A chord made up of three different notes. It is important to note that you can add as many notes as you want in a chord, hundreds, if you are interested for some reason. But if those hundreds of notes are just C, E, and G repeated in unison, perhaps, or at different pitches or octaves, and no others are played, what we're really hearing is a C triad chord.

Chord diagram and tablature for C Major triad

Types of triad chords

With these three notes we can basically form four types of chords:

Seniors: First, major third, perfect fifth. (Do M = do, mi, sol)

Minors: First, minor third, perfect fifth. (C minor = C, E B, G)

Disabled: First, minor third, diminished fifth. (C minor = C, E B, G)

Augmented: First, major third, augmented fifth. (Do 7 = do, mi, sol#)

Quad chords

But the thing doesn't end there. Chords can have more than three different notes sounding at the same time. If we add another note to any triad chord, in an ascending direction, of the corresponding scale and following the idea of ​​the thirds, which we will call the seventh, we will have formed a quadriad chord, that is, with four different notes.

C Major Quadriad Seventh Once again, even if we hear fifty or a hundred notes playing at the same time but, in the end, it is those four different notes repeated by different instruments or singers, we will still hear the same chord quadriad and the only thing that will change is the sound density or timbre of the set of individual sounds.

Chord and tablature of C Major7 quadriad Actually, there are more types of four-note chords but, to go step by step, we are going to stay for now with these derivatives of the triad chords.

Types of quadriad chords

These four-note combinations formed by ascending thirds lead to various types of quadriad chords. Of Major Seventh: First, major third, perfect fifth, major seventh. (Do Maj7 = do, mi, sol, si) From minor seventh: First, minor third, perfect fifth, minor seventh. (C minor7 = C, E B, G, B) From Dominant 7th: First, major third, perfect fifth, minor seventh. (Do 7 = do, mi, sol, si b) From Semi-diminished seventh: First, minor third, diminished fifth, minor seventh. (C m7b5 = C, E B, G B, B B) From diminished seventh: First, minor third, diminished fifth, diminished seventh. (C dim = C, E B, G B, B B) Chords Minor/Major Seventh: First, minor third, perfect fifth, major seventh. (Do m/M = do, mi b, sol, si)

Chords of more than four notes

In addition to all this, other different notes can also be added to the chords, depending on their function in a tonal harmonic progression, in a specific modal context or, simply, on the expressive intention of the composer or arranger of the song. To choose those notes meaningfully you have to, first, listen to how those combinations sound and, second, maybe study some music if you think you need it. The accumulation of different notes sounding at the same time will provide density, richness and, perhaps, confusion, if we add too many or choose the wrong ones, those that do not fit into the musical context of the song or a specific musical moment.

Investments

Without adding more notes to these chords, we can still achieve new combinations and different sounds. We are talking about the chord inversions. The way to do this will be to vary the order of those notes involved. If a triad chord, as we have seen, consists of a first, its third and its fifth, in an ascending direction, what happens if we place E as the lowest or grave note?

First inversion of the C Major triad When we hear, see or play a C major triad chord, but the lowest note is E, that is, its third, we will say that that C major chord is arranged in its first inversion.

Chord and tablature of the first inversion C Major triad If, on the other hand, the lowest note that we hear of that triad is G, its fifth, then we will say that the C Major chord is arranged in its second inversion. Each inversion sounds different, even if it is composed of the same notes. Harmonically we consider it equivalent and it will generally fulfill the same function in these three arrangements (the fundamental, the first and the second inversion) but, in practice, in a chord progression or in any situation of a musical arrangement it will not allow special combinations. , different musical discourses, more fluid voice conductions, for example.

Conclusions

There are many more chord shapes. We can add more different notes, we can alter their order, we can achieve tense, mysterious, melancholic sounds and even be very aggressive with the use of strong dissonances, for example. This variety is what will provoke a world of subtleties and sensations when listening to the music of a song or an instrumental work. Podcast episode dedicated to musical chords The important thing about this matter is to understand that the sound sensation that listening to a chord gives us depends directly on how it is constructed, that is, on the relationships established between the notes that form it. These relationships refer to distances, basically, and, as we have seen, we call these distances intervals. Each type of chord has a pattern of intervals that will produce a characteristic sound. Thus, with a trained or experienced ear, we can recognize what type of chord is being played just by listening to it. If we do not have absolute pitch, as most of us do, we will not be able to tell if that chord is C D or F sharp. But we will be able to identify its qualities: whether it is major or minor or dominant or diminished seventh, for example, thanks to those internal relationships that characterize them and what we call relative ear, which consists of recognizing one note in reference to another. Ear education is key to understanding music and enjoying it in a deeper way. It is also very useful for writing songs, for learning melodies or for sharpening our musical sense. Chords are one of the treasures of music. Just touching one of them… and letting it play… and listening to it…, is enough to understand the power it has and why we are attracted and fascinated by these special sound artifacts. Let's listen to chords, play them and sing with them. There are few better things. #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_column_with_background { padding: 10px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:not(:first-child) { margin-left: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph { line-height: 20px; margin-bottom: 20px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_segment_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_radio_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox_label, 3 .mailpoet_list_label, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_label { display: block; font-weight: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_select, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_month, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_day, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date_year, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_date { display :block; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_text, #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_textarea { width: 200px; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_checkbox { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_submit { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_divider { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message { } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading { width: 30px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; } #mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_loading > span { width: 5px; height: 5px; background-color: #5b5b5b; }#mailpoet_form_3{border: 1px solid #fcb900;border-radius: 40px;text-align: center;}#mailpoet_form_3 form.mailpoet_form {padding: 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3{width: 70%;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_message {margin : 0; padding: 0 20px;}#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_paragraph.last {margin-bottom: 0} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 {background-image: none;}} @media (min-width: 500px) { #mailpoet_form_3 .last .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} @media (max-width: 500px) {#mailpoet_form_3 .mailpoet_form_column:last-child .mailpoet_paragraph:last-child {margin-bottom: 0}} Please leave this field emptyDo you write songs or would you like to?

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